Gilgamesh thought, and then said to Enkidu:
“I know what we can do, Enkidu. Humbaba,
Have you heard of ferocious Humbaba?
{15} Let’s kill him, Enkidu, destroy his power,
Surprise him in his lair in the Cedar Forest!”
Enkidu opened his mouth and answered Gilgamesh:
“I learned about Humbaba, my friend,
When I wandered up in the hills with the herds.
[110] The Cedar Forest is sixty leagues of wilderness.
Who would dare to enter that forest?
Humbaba’s voice is a flood, his speech is fire,
He breathes out death. Why do you want to do this?
This is a fight that cannot be won.”
Gilgamesh answered,
“I will climb
The slopes of that forest, my friend.”
But Enkidu went on,
“How can we go there?
Enlil made Humbaba a terror to men
To keep the cedars safe in the forest.
[120] That is not a journey that men should make,
That is not someone that men should look at.
Adad the Storm God is first, Humbaba second.
His shout is a flood, his speech is fire,
He breathes out death. For sixty leagues
He hears every whisper of sound in the forest.
Who among the great gods of heaven,
Would oppose Humbaba? Enlil made him
As a terror to men to protect the cedars.
If you enter his forest you will tremble with fear.”
[130] And Gilgamesh answered Enkidu:
“Why are you whimpering like this, my friend?
My heart grieves at your cowardly words.
{16} Only the gods live forever in daylight.
Men’s days are numbered. Whatever we do
It is like a puff of wind, gone and no more.
Why are you afraid of death now?
You were born and bred in the wilderness.
Even the lions feared you. Grown men
Ran away from you. You have seen it all,
[140] Your heart is tried and true, tested in combat.
Come, my friend, we’re off to the forge
To watch them cast axes and hatchets for us!”
Hand in hand they headed to the forge.
The smiths sat down, talking things over.
Then they cast huge hatchets, and axes that weighed
Three talents each. They cast great swords
With two talents of metal in each blade,
A half-talent in the knobs on the hilts,
And sheaths that contained a half-talent of gold.
[150] Each hero carried a half-ton of weapons.
Then Gilgamesh bolted Uruk’s seven gates
And called an assembly. The people gathered,
And Gilgamesh, seated on his throne,
Spoke before them, addressing the elders:
“Hear me, elders of Uruk!
I am setting out to face ferocious Humbaba,
To see the god of whom all men talk,
Whose name is repeated in all the lands.
I will destroy him in the Cedar Forest
[160] So all will know Uruk’s offshoot is great.
Let my journey begin. I will fell the cedar
And make for myself an eternal name!”
Then Gilgamesh turned to the young men of Uruk:
{17} “Hear me now, young men of Uruk,
Men who understand war!
I am heading out boldly to attack Humbaba,
A battle I don’t know I will win.
I will travel a road unknown to me.
Give me your blessing as I set out,
[170] And may I see you again when I return
In triumph through the gate of Uruk.
When I return I will celebrate
The New Year festival twice that year.
Let the festivities begin!
Let the drums boom before the goddess Ninsun!”
Then Enkidu warned the council of elders
And the young men too, warriors of Uruk:
“Tell him not to go to the Cedar Forest.
That is not a journey that men should make,
[180] That is not someone that men should look at.
The guardian of that forest has a long reach.
This Humbaba, his shout is a flood,
His speech is fire, he breathes out death.
For sixty leagues he hears every sound in his forest.
Enlil made Humbaba a terror to men
To keep the cedars safe in the forest.
Adad the Storm God is first, Humbaba second.
Whoever enters his forest will tremble with fear.”
The council of elders rose up
[190] And offered this advice to Gilgamesh:
“You are young, Gilgamesh, ruled by emotion,
And you do not understand what you are saying.
This Humbaba, his shout is a deluge,
His speech is fire, he breathes out death.
For sixty leagues he hears every sound in his forest.
{18} Who would dare to enter that forest?
Which of the great gods would quarrel with him?
Adad the Storm God is first, Humbaba second.
Enlil made Humbaba a terror to men
[200] To keep the cedars safe in the forest.”
When he heard this from the council of elders
Gilgamesh laughed and looked at Enkidu.
{19} Tablet III
Preparations for the Journey
Then the elders of Uruk spoke to Gilgamesh:
“Come back to Uruk’s dock safe and sound,
And do not trust to your strength alone.
Be wary, Gilgamesh, and make every blow count.
A good man out front saves his companion,
One who knows the way is a shield for his friend.
Let Enkidu go out in front before you.
He knows the way to the Cedar Forest,
And he is a warrior, hardened in combat.
[10] Enkidu will bring you safely back home.”
Then they turned to Enkidu and said,
“Our council entrusts the King to your care.
Bring him back, Enkidu, and return our trust.”
Gilgamesh then turned to Enkidu and said,
“Let us go, brother, to the high temple, Egalmah,
And stand before the great Queen Ninsun,
Ninsun who is wise in all manner of things.
She will set our feet on a prudent path.”
{20} Gilgamesh and Enkidu clasped hands
[20] And walked together up to the high temple
And stood before the great Queen Ninsun.
Gilgamesh drew nearer and said to her:
“My heart is set, Ninsun, on making
The long journey to the home of Humbaba.
I will face a battle that I cannot know
And walk a path that is unknown to me.
I ask for your blessing upon my journey.
Allow me to see your face again
And come back in joy through Uruk’s gate.
[30] When I return I will celebrate
The New Year festival twice over again.
We will let the festivities continue,
The drums boom for the goddess Ninsun!”
Ninsun listened with great sadness
To her son Gilgamesh. Then she bathed
Seven times in tamarisk-scented water,
Put on a fine-spun dress, adorned her breast
With a jewel, and crowned her head with a diadem.
Then she climbed the temple’s stairs to the roof,
[40] And there she lit incense in a censer
In supplication to Shamash the Sun.
Lifting her arms she prayed to the Sun God:
“Why do you curse my son with a restless heart?
Now he will trek to Humbaba�
��s far land,
Face a battle that he cannot know,
Walk a path that is unknown to him.
Every day of his journey there and back,
Until he reaches the Cedar Forest,
Until he kills ferocious Humbaba,
[50] Rids the land of the Evil you loathe,
Each and every day when you circle the earth,
May your bride Aya, the Goddess of Dawn,
{21} Remind you to safeguard him until nightfall,
Keep him unharmed until evening enfolds him.
“O Shamash, it is you who send forth the herds,
Your brightness gives shape to the world,
Your ruddy glow awakens the beasts in the wild.
The people gather at the coming of your light,
The gods of old, the Annunaki, await you.
[60] May Aya your bride not fear to remind you,
‘Safeguard him until the night comes.’
“And while my son travels to the Cedar Forest,
Let the days be long, and the nights short,
And let him make camp when evening comes.
And may your bride Aya say to you boldly,
‘When Gilgamesh and Enkidu face Humbaba,
O Shamash, rouse the storm winds against him,
Winds from the South, the North, the East, and the West,
Colliding typhoons, cyclones, squalls, hurricanes, tempests.
[70] Tornadoes and gales, twisters and whirlwinds,
Thirteen winds to darken Humbaba’s face!
And then let Gilgamesh hit home with his weapons.’
“Whenever your fires, Shamash, are kindled,
Turn your face toward me, your supplicant,
Your swift-footed mules shall bear you onward,
A couch will await you for you to take your rest,
Your brother gods will bring food to refresh you
And Aya will dry your face with the hem of her robe.”
Then Ninsun renewed her prayer to Shamash:
[80] “Will not Gilgamesh become one of the gods?
Will he not share the heavens with you?
Not share a scepter and crown with the moon?
Not grow wise with Ea of the Nether Ocean?
{22} Not rule with Irnina the black-headed people?
Not dwell with Ningishzida in the World Below?”
So Wild Cow Ninsun entreated Shamash,
Ninsun who was wise in all manner of things.
Then she snuffed out the incense, came down from the roof,
Summoned Enkidu, and said this to him:
[90] “Great Enkidu, you did not come from my womb,
But from now on you will be in the care
Of Gilgamesh’s temple women, his priestesses.
And just as these women take in foundlings
And adopt them as their foster children,
So too do I, Enkidu, now take you as my son,
Brother of Gilgamesh, who grants you his favor.
When you travel together to the Cedar Forest,
May the days be long, and the nights short,
And may you triumph by Shamash’s will
[100] At the Gate of Marduk in the Cedar Forest!”
Then Gilgamesh addressed Uruk’s officials:
“During our journey to the Cedar Forest
And until we return, do not allow
The young men to assemble in the streets.
Judge yourselves the lawsuits of the weak.”
The officials stood, expressed their good wishes,
And the young men of Uruk crowded around,
The officials kissed the feet of Gilgamesh and said:
“Come back to Uruk’s dock safe and sound,
[110] And do not trust to your strength alone.
Be wary, Gilgamesh, and make every blow count.
A good man out front saves his companion,
One who knows the way is a shield for his friend.
{23} Let Enkidu go out in front before you.
He knows the way to the Cedar Forest,
And he is a warrior, hardened in combat.
Enkidu knows the mountain passes,
He will guard his friend and companion,
Enkidu will bring you safely back home.”
[120] Then they turned to Enkidu and said,
“Our council entrusts the King to your care.
Bring him back, Enkidu, and return our trust.”
Then Enkidu said to Gilgamesh:
“Let’s begin the journey your heart is set on.
Have no fear, and keep your eyes on me.
I know Humbaba, his lair and his ways.
Send this crowd home, and let’s move out.”
The people were cheered to hear his words,
And the young men shouted:
“May your god go with you,
[130] May Shamash help you to win through to the end!”
And Gilgamesh and Enkidu went forth from Uruk.
{24} Tablet IV
Journey to the Cedar Forest
After sixty miles they stopped to break bread;
Ninety more miles and they pitched camp for the night:
One hundred and fifty miles a day,
In three days a march of a month and a half.
They drew nearer and nearer to Mount Lebanon.
They faced the sun and dug a well
So they could fill their water-skins with fresh water.
Then Gilgamesh climbed a mountain and sifted
An offering of flour as he prayed to the hill-god:
[10] “Send me a dream, Mountain, a good omen, a vision.”
That night Enkidu made a hut for the dream-god,
Setting in a door against the weather.
He made Gilgamesh lie down in a circle he’d drawn,
And lay himself in the doorway, flat as a net.
Gilgamesh drew his knees up to his chin,
And sleep that drifts over all drifted down over him.
At midnight he reached the end of his slumber,
And then he got up and said to his friend:
{25} “Didn’t you call me, my friend? What woke me up?
[20] Didn’t you touch me? What startled me?
Did a spirit pass over me? Why am I cold and numb?
It was a dream, my friend. I have had the first dream!
I dreamed we were in a valley, a mountain valley,
It was all confused,
And the mountain fell down on us.”
Though born in the wild, Enkidu knew
How to give counsel. He interpreted the dream:
“This is a good dream, my friend, a good omen for us.
The mountain you saw could not be Humbaba.
[30] We will take Humbaba, we will fight and kill him,
Cast his corpse down on the field of battle.
Tomorrow we will see a good sign from the Sun God.”
After sixty miles they stopped to break bread;
Ninety more miles and they pitched camp for the night:
One hundred and fifty miles a day,
In three days a march of a month and a half.
They drew nearer and nearer to Mount Lebanon.
They faced the sun and dug a well
So they could fill their water-skins with fresh water.
[40] Then Gilgamesh climbed a mountain and sifted
An offering of flour as he prayed to the hill-god:
“Send me a dream, Mountain, a good omen, a vision.”
That night Enkidu made a hut for the dream-god,
Setting in a door against the weather.
He made Gilgamesh lie down in a circle he’d drawn,
And lay himself in the doorway, flat as a net.
Gilgamesh drew his knees up to his chin,
And sleep that drifts over all drifted down over him.
{26} At midnight he reached the end of his slumber,
[50] And then he got up and said to his friend
:
“Didn’t you call me, my friend? What woke me up?
Didn’t you touch me? What startled me?
Did a spirit pass over me? Why am I cold and numb?
A dream, I have had a second dream, my friend!
My second dream was better than the first.
In my dream a mountain threw me down,
Threw me down, my friend, and held me by my feet.
Then a bright light appeared and grew more intense,
And out of that light a beautiful man,
[60] The handsomest man in the land, appeared
And pulled me out from beneath that mountain,
He gave me water to drink and calmed me down,
And then he lifted me onto my feet.”
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
“We will meet Humbaba, and he is not like that,
My friend. He is completely different,
Not like that mountain. You should not be afraid.”
After sixty miles they stopped to break bread;
Ninety more miles and they pitched camp for the night:
[70] One hundred and fifty miles a day,
In three days a march of a month and a half.
They drew nearer and nearer to Mount Lebanon.
They faced the sun and dug a well
So they could fill their water-skins with fresh water.
Then Gilgamesh climbed a mountain and sifted
An offering of flour as he prayed to the hill-god:
“Send me a dream, Mountain, a good omen, a vision.”
{27} That night Enkidu made a hut for the dream-god,
Setting in a door against the weather.
[80] He made Gilgamesh lie down in a circle he’d drawn,
And lay himself in the doorway, flat as a net.
Gilgamesh drew his knees up to his chin,
And sleep that drifts over all drifted down over him.
At midnight he reached the end of his slumber,
Gilgamesh Page 5